After Lover for Pay: ONESHOTS

Distance Pt1

Marbell stared at the screen of the Mac computer on his desk. He was at work and it was almost time for him to head home, which was a relief after such a long day of statistics, directing, and constantly being on his feet, but it was what would happen once he got home that worried him the most. On the screen, the image for his digital work calendar was up, and the event marked for the ninth of September was taking place in Milan. While he'd tried to speak with his father about having someone go in his stead, Rolland remained very adamant about having the owner and CEO of Knighting Bell attend the gathering. With having been invited to sit alongside A-List celebrities, designers, and other chairmen and woman of high end clothing brands, there was really nothing Marbell could say to get himself out of this situation.

It certainly wouldn't be his first time going to the opening of a fashion week, but just like the first time he'd attended after he and London got married, Marbell always found himself feeling horrible the second he boarded a plane and was taken thousands of miles away from his family. Granted he was only going to be gone for three days, the length of time absent from the house never failed to sway the sentiment in his husband. And the worst part...he'd be leaving tomorrow. He tried to tell London the other week and the days leading up to it, but he always had the worst time getting it off his chest.

At the moment there were a few new portfolios on his desk that he was supposed to go through. They were young men and women looking for a representative to pursue a career in modeling, and while he wasn't always the one to be the first to review potential portfolios, these had been delivered to him directly since the women who usually looked at them first was out on maternity leave. As the clock ticked closer to his time to go home, Marbell made a couple calls out to those he was interested in representing, scheduled for them to come in the next week for further review, and then did one more walk through the building to oversee how his employees were doing. He offered his insight here and there, stopping in the different departments, and stood in on one of the magazine presentations taking place before taking to another floor.

After watching the photoshoot for one of their most popular male models, Marbell pulled the young man aside to have a word about the future of his career, broadening his horizon into formalwear instead of strictly sports and fitness, and to possibly become the face of an up-and-coming shoe brand. When that was done and Marbell was alone in his office again, he began to pack up his briefcase to head home. He said goodbye to his coworkers and soon he was seated behind the wheel of his Audi. For a moment he thought back to the very first time he took a trip out of state for business. It was about six months after Benjamin was born, and while Marbell had wanted to stay, these trips were always scheduled for something he couldn't get out of. They were important to the company's image and well-being.

During that time, London had pleaded and even shed a round of tears Marbell hadn't been ready for. He knew how his lover was when it came to spending time apart, especially when it was on opposite sides of the globe, and London never took it very well. Marbell would definitely admit that his husband was rather clingy, but certainly always in an endearing way, and he absolutely loved that about London, he just hated having to challenge it when times like this one rolled around. And there was no way around it today.

Heading home through the traffic that backed up during this time of day, Marbell tried to think of how he was going to handle this bad news once he got home.

When he was at last parked before the house, he took a quick breath and went inside. The first people he saw upon entered was Layla and Naomi, and they lilt up like the sun when they heard the front door open. Together the twins scurried from their coloring books on the living room floor and darted for their father. "Papa!" they exclaimed, matching today in pale green dresses with white stockings, their light brown curly hair pulled back into ponytails.